eBay to the Max: How to Become a PowerSeller, Trading Assistant, and Trading Post Owner

eBay developed the PowerSeller program to recognize exemplary sellers. The PowerSeller program gives you extra credibility in the eBay community itself. Buyers often have more confidence in PowerSellers, reasoning correctly that experience counts. This chapter explains the many perks of being a PowerSeller, and how to become one.

eBay
developed
the
PowerSeller
program
to recognize
exemplary
sellers.
This
does
several
things.
First
and
foremost,
the
program
is designed
to make
you
feel
good
about
yourself
and
about
your
relationship
with
eBay.
Heck,
everybody
likes
recognition.
It's
human
nature.

What’s a PowerSeller?

The PowerSeller program gives you extra credibility in the eBay community
itself. Buyers often have more confidence in PowerSellers, reasoning correctly
that experience counts. Given a choice between buying similar items from a
PowerSeller or an occasional seller, especially a part-time seller without much
feedback, most buyers will go with the PowerSeller. So, PowerSeller status can
mean extra money in your pocket and membership in the PowerSeller program is
free.

We’ll also look at some other PowerSeller perks in this chapter. There
are many.

Becoming a PowerSeller

People know that you are a PowerSeller because a special logo like the one in
Figure
3.1 appears in your listings and next to your eBay name on search
results.

The minimum entry level for eBay PowerSeller status requires you to
consistently sell at least $1,000 per month on eBay. You must do this for three
consecutive months to be recognized as a PowerSeller, and then you must continue
at this rate or above to maintain your PowerSeller standing.

PowerSeller status is not just about how much you sell, however. Experience
is another element. You must have been selling successfully for at least 90
days. Your account must be in good standing, which is to say, you must pay your
eBay bill on time, not be suspended for eBay policy violations, and so on.

NOTE

Feedback is discussed in detail in Chapter 28, " Feedback," but here
it is worth noting that the feedback calculation used to determine PowerSeller
eligibility is slightly different from the formula used for the feedback rating
displayed alongside your eBay ID in your auctions. Specifically, eBay calculates
PowerSeller Feedback by taking the total number of positive feedbacks and
dividing them by the total number of feedbacks (both positive and negative)
rather than filtering out multiple feedbacks from the same users. The reasoning
is that because PowerSellers ought to have happy repeat customers, this should
be recognized and taken into account.

Quoting eBay here, you need to

"Comply
with
all
eBay
listing
and
marketplace
policies,
and
uphold
eBay
community
values,
including
honesty,
timeliness,
and
mutual
respect."

You must also achieve and maintain an acceptable level of positive feedback.
Currently, eBay requires a minimum of 100 feedback entries for PowerSeller
status, of which 98% or more must be positive. Which is to say if you have only
100 feedback entries, no more than two can be negative. If you have 1,000
feedback entries, up to 20 negatives are acceptable, and so on.

PowerSeller Levels

There are PowerSellers, and then there are PowerSellers. eBay ranks us by the
monthly gross sales volume achieved, and assigns us to one of five tiers shown
in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 PowerSeller Ranking

Level

Monthly Sales

Priority Support

Toll Free Phone

Account Manager

Bronze

$1,000

Yes

Silver

$3,000

Yes

Yes

Gold

$10,000

Yes

Yes

Yes

Platinum

$25,000

Yes

Yes

Yes

Titanium

$150,000

Yes

Yes

Yes

Advancing to Higher PowerSeller Levels

To advance to higher PowerSeller levels you will need to continue to comply
with all of the PowerSeller program criteria. It takes three consecutive months
at a new level of performance to be assigned to the next tier. So, for example,
a Bronze PowerSeller will need to sell $3,000 or more each month for three
months to become a Silver PowerSeller, Silvers need to sell $10,000 or more for
three months to become Gold sellers, and so on.

NOTE

eBay sends invitations to eligible members once a month. If you received an
email and then get a "you are not qualified" message when you try to
sign in, refresh your screen and try again. If you are rejected again, send an
email to powersellersinfo@ebay.com. An eBay customer service
representative will help get you going.

Confirm that you have opted-in to receive advanced selling communications for
PowerSellers by mail, email, and telephone. Do this by visiting the Notification
Preferences area of your My eBay web page. If you have done this, eBay will
automatically notify and congratulate you via email when you reach the next
tier.

What If Your Sales Slip?

If your selling success falls below the level for your current tier (Gold,
Silver, and so on), you will automatically receive an alert email. You will have
30 days to bring your account back into compliance. If, after the 30-day grace
period, your account still falls below the criteria, your status as a
PowerSeller might be downgraded to the appropriate new tier, or if you are
selling less than $1,000 monthly your PowerSeller status might be revoked. You
can get back in the club by reaching the necessary sales goals in the future.

TIP

If you know you will not be selling for a specific period of time—if
you are going on vacation, for example—you can contact PowerSeller support
and your status will be put on hold for that time period so you won’t slip
down a level. This must be done before the time period in question.

PowerSeller Recognition

As a new PowerSeller you will receive a welcome kit including an official
certificate of achievement from the CEO. The kit also contains essential
advanced selling tips.

As mentioned earlier, when you achieve PowerSeller status the PowerSeller
icon will appear next to your user ID as shown in Figure
3.2.

In addition to the automatically inserted logo next to your name, you are
permitted to manually insert larger versions in your item listings and on your
About Me web pages.

Figure 3.2 The
PowerSeller logo will appear next to your ID in listings.

Within specific guidelines it also is possible to use the PowerSeller logo on
letterhead and business card templates, in advertising, and in other customer
communications. You do need to follow the correct procedures, however, and in
some cases obtain eBay’s prior permission. A great way to study up on the
latest rules and regulations is to visit eBay’s Help Search page and type
logo use into the search field. You will get results similar to
those shown in Figure
3.3.

PowerSeller Priority Help

eBay provides PowerSellers with priority help. The level of help varies for
the different tiers. The following sections provide an overview of the various
help plans and levels.

Prioritized Email Support

All PowerSellers receive priority General email support 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Most Trust and Safety questions will be answered within 36 hours.
Some examples of PowerSeller email support include the following:

Toll Free General Phone Support

Toll free general phone support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
for Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium sellers. There’s a separate
number for Trust and Safety issues (such as feedback removal, non-paying bidder,
ended listings, or suspensions). It’s answered 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT, Monday
through Friday.

Your Own PowerSeller Rep

What a godsend these folks are. Imagine having someone at eBay who will pick
up the phone when you call, probably recognize you by name, and will then either
answer your questions or find someone who can! PowerSeller reps work for Gold,
Platinum, and Titanium sellers only. What a perk!

PowerSeller Swag

And of course there are PowerSeller shirts, and caps, and business card
holders, and who knows what all (see Figure
3.4). PowerSeller collectibles
should be an eBay category. In fact, if you are a PowerSeller and you attend one
of eBay’s eBay Live events, you will come home with tons of PowerSeller
swag.

Figure
3.4 PowerSellers have their own shirts, caps, and other identifiers.

The PowerSeller Community

Naturally, PowerSellers have their own subculture within eBay. We get an
exclusive PowerSeller-only discussion board that most folks use to trade tips,
techniques, best practices, and so on. You will also find some sniveling there,
as on any discussion board, but generally the folks are friendly, helpful, and
encouraging.

You can also opt into a monthly PowerUp! email newsletter discussing the
latest programs, special promotions, and advanced selling education. A
quarterly, printed PowerUp! newsletter will be sent to you in the mail.

Reseller Marketplace

As this book is being written eBay is establishing a new feature for
PowerSellers only called the Reseller Marketplace (see Figure
3.5). It will be a
source of wholesale items for you to purchase and resell. The Reseller
Marketplace is open to all eBay PowerSellers. You need to register to use the
Reseller Marketplace.

Other PowerSeller Benefits

Additional PowerSeller benefits are discussed in detail in Chapter 29,
"eBay as a Partner," but here’s a peek at some of the other help
you get from eBay as a PowerSeller: